Venezuela’s Maduro Warns CARICOM of Guyana and US SOUTHCOM Collaboration Dangers

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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro presides over a ceremony commemorating the Battle of Ayacucho. (Prensa Presidencial)

Mexico City, Mexico, December 10, 2024 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro urged the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to be wary of the designs of US Southern Command in Guyana following a recent meeting between Guyanese President Irfaan Ali with US military leadership.

“I call on the Caribbean, on CARICOM, to be alert, because the Southern Command is there provoking our region and Venezuela is here, ready and well positioned to defend its historical rights,” said Maduro on a broadcast.

Tensions between Venezuela and Guyana increased in recent years due to oil exploration by Guyana, together with ExxonMobil, in the territorial waters of the disputed Essequibo region. Venezuela maintains that the 160,000 square-kilometer strip has been part of its territory since the country’s independence from Spain in the 19th century.

ExxonMobil is currently producing approximately 645,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) from offshore fields and the company has pledged to continue its exploration in the controversial region, targeting 1.2 million bpd by the end of 2027.

Venezuela held a referendum affirming the country’s long-standing claim to the Essequibo Strip in December 2023, which Guyana viewed as an attempt to annex the resource-rich region.

The leaders of both countries eventually met face-to-face and signed the “Argyle Declaration” where Maduro and Ali committed to not use force against each other and to continue direct talks to resolve the border controversy under international law.

The International Court of Justice is presently evaluating the Essequibo dispute, despite Caracas’ protests that the court that not have jurisdiction to rule over the case. Georgetown is seeking the ICJ’s validation of the 1899 Paris arbitration agreement that awarded the territory to then-colonizer Great Britain.

The Guyanese government delivered its final legal brief on Tuesday after both countries already submitted their cases. Venezuela will have a chance to counter its neighbor’s arguments and deliver its own final stance in August 2025.

Despite the ongoing talks and legal proceedings, Ali has nonetheless pursued closer relationships with foreign armed forces, welcoming a warship from the United Kingdom. Last year, SOUTHCOM carried out flight operations with the Guyana Defence Force and in February, Washington announced it would provide Guyana with new aircraft, helicopters, military drones and radar technology.

This month, the Guyanese president met with SOUTHCOM’s commander US Navy Admiral Alvin Holsey. The Navy admiral replaced Laura J. Richardson in November. Richardson earned a reputation for making controversial statements about US designs on natural resources throughout Latin America. SOUTHCOM is responsible for US military operations in the region.

The meeting between Holsey and Ali was described in official US communications as a “demonstration of the deepening of the U.S. partnership with the South American nation.”

The SOUTHCOM readout further boasted about Ali’s tenure as a student at the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, a US military school on par with the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly known as the School of the Americas.

Maduro explicitly linked Ali’s meeting with SOUTHCOM with the ongoing Essequibo dispute, alleging that the Guyanese president was seeking to deepen his alliances with SOUTHCOM, ExxonMobil, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The Venezuelan leader said the meeting signaled the potential of “preparation of an attack” on Venezuela and accused Ali of violating the “Argyle Declaration”. Caracas has likewise warned of plans to establish US military bases on Guyanese territory.

Maduro pledged to defend his country’s historical claim to the Essequibo region. He again emphasized Venezuela’s commitment to defend its sovereignty on Tuesday during the 200th anniversary commemorations of the Battle of Ayacucho.

“If Ayacucho was the Waterloo of the Spanish empire in America, if the imperialists dare, if the fascists dare, [Venezuela] would be the Waterloo of all conspiracies and they would regret for 100 years having dared to touch the sacred peace and stability and union of our beloved Venezuela,” said Maduro.

The Venezuelan president’s comments came following news of the fall of the Bashar al-Assad government, a Maduro ally, to Islamist rebel forces in Syria.

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.

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